"They lost the Palestinian street, which sees what they have become. A bunch of murderers and thieves who execute Palestinians only because they are Fatah members," Mohammed Dahlan said in an interview with Israel's Haaretz daily on Wednesday.

Dahlan said that a huge Fatah rally held in Gaza City on Sunday and attended by thousands of supporters was a show of force to Hamas. "We proved to Hamas that Gaza is not theirs. Gaza is not Tora Bora," he said. Fatah intends to hold another rally on Thursday near the seat of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.

Dahlan also warned Israel to stay out of the internal Palestinian crisis. "Stay away from us. You don't help, you only do damage. Every time somebody on your side talks about 'helping Abu Mazen' they hurt him," he said.